f -be  gelations  jof  %  glmtnnw  fairer  to  %  Siato. 


AN 


ORATION 


DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  ASSEMBLY 


HARVARD  LAW  SCHOOL, 


AT  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  FALL  TERM, 


September,  1859, 


BY 


JOSEPH     C.    JACKSON, 

OF    NEW  AUK,   X.    -I. 


PRINTED     BY     ORDKR     OF     THE     ASSEMBLY. 


CAMBRIDGE: 
WELCH,    BIGELOW,    AND    COMPANY, 

PRINTERS    TO    THE    UNIVERSITY. 
1859. 


ta  of  i*    mmcan  fato     to     State. 


AN 


ORATION 


OF   THE 


HARVARD    LAW    SCHOOL, 


AT  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  FALL  TERM, 


September,    1859. 


JOSEPH     C.    JACKSON, 

OF    NEWARK,  N.   J. 


PRINTED     BY     ORDER     OF     THE     ASSEMBLY, 


CAMBRIDGE: 
WELCH,    BIGELOW,    AND    COMPANY, 

PRINTERS    TO    THE    UNIVERSITY. 
1859. 


ORATION. 


GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  DANE  LAW  SCHOOL,  AND  LADIES  AND  GENTLE- 
MEN WHO   HAVE  HONORED  US  WITH  YOUR  PRESENCE  :  — 

No  institution  of  learning  brings  together  so  many 
young  men  of  marked  character  and  varied  expe- 
rience, devoted  to  the  same  pursuit,  as  a  profes- 
sional school  like  this.  Here  are  met  graduates  from 
the  college,  with  their  profession  just  chosen,  and 
their  expectations  of  Harvard  Law  School  —  height- 
ened by  the  fame  of  its  sons,  and  its  permanent  suc- 
cess —  now  about  to  be  realized  ;  others,  from  the 
tuition  of  a  rougher  life,  which  has  made  the  law  in 
their  eyes  so  attractive,  yet  so  difficult ;  while  others 
still  are  with  us  to  resume  their  studies  but  for  a 
single  term,  and  complete  their  preparation  for  a  career 
which  may  prove  long,  arduous,  and  responsible. 

To-night  we  meet  to  acquaint  ourselves  with  one 
another,  that  we  may  be  at  peace  ;  may  recognize  each 
other  as  followers  of  the  same  pursuit,  as  encountering 
the  same  difficulties,  animated  by  kindred  aspirations, 
assiduous  alike  at  the  shrine  of  Justice ;  and  from  her 
inner  temple  —  enriched  with  the  learning  of  con- 
tinents and  the  records  of  centuries,  hung  with  the 
portraits  of  her  mighty  dead  and  graced  with  the  wis- 
1* 


dom  of  the  living  —  we  soon  must  depart,  to  enlist  our 
lives  in  similar  contests  in  behalf  of  the  one  divinity  of 
Truth. 

And  to  professional  studies   we  should   bring   the 
attempered   feelings    and    thoughtful  minds    of  men. 
Ignorant   of    his    powers,   tastes,    opportunities,    and 
responsibilities,  —  with    scores    of   boys   like   himself 
undisciplined    and    impulsive,  —  the   college  student 
enters  a  race  for   what  prize,  to   what  goal,  he  too 
often  neither  knows  nor  cares.     The  diversions  inci- 
dent to  youth  and  numbers  —  societies,  clubs,  society 
itself,  companions,  libraries,  and  plans  of  study  —  quite 
bewilder  him,  and  are  hard  to  be  woven  into  a  wise, 
harmonious  system.     Slow  to  acknowledge  the  supe- 
rior judgment  of  their  instructors,  the  mass  of  students 
slight  the   prescribed   course  of  study,  and  graduate 
just  as  they  begin  to  appreciate  the  advantages  they 
have  enjoyed.      But  college  life  has,  at  least,  devel- 
oped the  powers,  and  discovered  individual  aptitudes. 
It  has  also  impressed  upon  the  mind  many  invaluable 
conclusions.     It  has  taught  that  in  every  department 
of  thought  there  always  remains  something  more  to  be 
learned ;  that  truth,  though  apparently  conflicting,  is 
wholly   reconcilable ;    that    the   powers    of    the    soul 
should  be  ever  expanding  through  a  belief  in  its  im- 
mortality ;  and  that  each  to-morrow,  as  the  morning  of 
an  ascending  life,  should  "  find  us  farther  than  to-day." 
Whether  derived  from  the  experience  of  the  schools 
or  the  world,  such,  doubtless,  are  the  convictions  of  us 
all.    Understanding  the  value  of  a  liberal  education,  we 
appreciate  the  pleasure  and  utility  arising  from  attain- 
ments  in  the  sciences  of  Mathematics,  Natural    and 
Civil  History,  Language,  Metaphysics,  and  Theology ; 


and  though  we  cannot  now  hope  for  frequent  visits  to 
their  higher  seats,  still  we  should  be  unwilling  that  an 
acquaintance,  more  or  less  intimate,  with  each,  should 
ever  wholly  cease.  The  true  lover  of  knowledge, 
before  devoting  himself  to  any  special  pursuit,  will 
profoundly  study  the  spirit,  aim,  and  mutual  relations 
of  the  other  professions ;  for  thus  only  can  he  put  him- 
self in  sympathy  with  all  lovers  of  truth,  and  be  best 
qualified  to  act  his  part  in  his  peculiar  sphere. 

From  a  desire  of  wealth,  fame,  usefulness,  or  a  liveli- 
hood,—  guided  by  reason  or  intuition,  by  the  example 
or  advice  of  friends,  or  borne  thence  by  the  ceaseless 
current  of  time,  —  we  are  now,  my  friends  involved  in 
the  study  of  the  Law.  Without  pausing  to  ask  what 
motive  induced  any  one  to  his  choice,  or  what  are  his 
proposed  plans  of  study  and  conduct,  let  us  hope  that 
the  other  fields  of  effort  have  been  fairly  surveyed, 
and  the  decision  Wisely,  as  probably  it  is  ultimately 
fixed.  For,  much  as  we  might  prefer  to  spend  our 
days  in  general  culture,  we  are  now  to  be  content  with 
but  one  field  of  action  ;  and  while  consoling  ourselves 
with  the  thought  that  ours  is  perhaps  the  most  learned 
profession,  as  well  as  the  most  sympathetic  of  them 
all,  —  presenting,  too,  the  amplest  arena  for  the  activ- 
ities of  the  highest  genius,  —  let  us  not  forget  that  it 
is  to  be  our  sole  support,  our  solace,  our  pride ;  and 
that  upon  its  pages,  if  at  all,  we  are  to  pen  the  historic 
poem  of  our  life. 

Despite,  therefore,  the  warning  of  Lord  Bacon 
against  writing  of  that  of  which  one  has  not  had 
"  the  tincture  of  experience,"  I  trust  I  shall  accom- 
plish the  purpose  for  which  I  am  invited  to  address 
you,  by  submitting  to  your  indulgent  attention  some 


thoughts  on  The  Relations  of  the  American  Lawyer  to 
the  State. 

To  ascertain  the  relations  which  the  individual  sus- 
tains to  society,  let  us  first  inquire  into  the  nature  of 
Civil  Society  itself.  It  is  not  the  result  of  a  compact 
between  man  and  man,  but  is  rather  the  normal  con- 
dition of  our  race.  The  individual  did,  indeed,  exist 
before  the  family,  and  the  family  before  the  state ;  but 
Aristotle  has  abundantly  proved  that,  philosophically, 
the  idea  of  the  state  is  antecedent  to  the  perfection 
both  of  the  family  and  the  individual.  Since  man  is 
essentially  a  social  being,  he  can  attain  his  highest  per- 
sonal development  only  as  a  member  of  society.  A 
part  may  be  completed  before  the  whole ;  but  it  is 
only  on  the  completion  of  the  whole  that  the  purpose 
and  utility  of  the  part  are  seen.  The  wheels  of  an 
engine  may  be  perfect  in  themselves ;  but  it  is  only  as 
connected  and  acting  with  the  engine  that  they  are 
endowed  with  motion.  Man,  the  animal,  could,  in- 
deed, eat,  live,  and  die,  unaided  and  unblessed  by  the 
contributions  of  human  fellowship ;  but  man,  the  ra- 
tional being,  is  such  only  when  in  the  bosom  of  society 
his  higher  nature  finds  nourishment  and  sympathy. 

Civil  government  is  the  creature  of  society.  It  is  a 
Divine  Institution,  in  that  society  has  the  moral  right 
to  establish  a  government,  which  its  members  are  mor- 
ally bound  to  revere.  The  idea  of  government  is  of 
divine  origin ;  its  form  is  determined  by  man,  and 
should  express  the  aggregate  wisdom  of  the  governed. 
Generally,  the  character  of  its  government  is  at  once 
the  cause  and  result  of  the  character  of  the  state.  If 
the  people  are  republicans,  they  insist  upon  a  repub- 


lie ;  if  servile,  by  their  servility  they  tolerate  anarchy 
or  support  a  despotism. 

The  framers  of  our  government  aimed  to  combine 
the  highest  good  of  the  individual  with  the  highest 
good  of  society.  They  did  not,  like  the  Grecian  re- 
publics, merge  the  individual  wholly  in  the  state ;  nor, 
with  Hobbes,  maintain  that  the  interests  of  the  state 
are  wholly  subordinate  to  those  of  the  citizen.  They 
took  a  middle  course.  They  believed  that  man  could 
best  progress  when  aided  by  the  organization  of  the 
state,  and  that  the  state  could  best  progress  when  allow- 
ing its  members  the  widest  range  of  social,  intellectual, 
and  religious  freedom.  Ours  was  the  first,  perhaps 
the  only  government,  entitled  to  be  called  democratic  : 
which  admitted,  as  its  definition  —  the  aggregate  ivis- 
dom  of  the  governed. 

How  beautifully  does  this  theory  unite  our  people 
in  a  common  brotherhood !  How  well  it  demonstrates 
the  utility  of  a  division  of  labor,  and  confirms  the  doc- 
trine that  in  union  is  strength !  How  superior  to  any 
other  form  does  it  prove  a  popular  government  to  be, 
which  first  develops  individual  worth,  then  consecrates 
it  to  the  general  good !  It  dignifies  drudgery,  by 
telling  the  laborer  that  he  is  adding  to  the  national 
wealth.  It  assures  the  farmer  that  his  toilsome  har- 
vests feed  the  sources  of  intellectual  and  moral  life. 
For  every  contribution  to  domestic  comfort  it  offers 
the  mechanic  ample  protection  ;  while  the  artist, 
whose  genius  adds  refinement  to  his  age,  is  sure  of 
munificent  patronage  and  ultimate  distinction.  It  ac- 
cords with  the  harmonies  of  nature,  mingles  with  the 
music  of  the  spheres  ;  and,  while  justly  exalting  every 
human  agency,  it  humbles  each  with  the  thought  that 

"  All  are  but  parts  of  one  stupendous  whole." 


s 


As  the  Omnipotent,  when  uplifting  or  depressing  na- 
tions, when  destroying  or  making  alive,  or  howsoever 
dispensing  his  wise,  mysterious  providences,  in  part 
explains  his  perfect  sovereignty  by  declaring,  '  I  do 
all  things  for  myself; '  so  the  State,  surveying  her 
millions  engaged  in  multiform  pursuits,  exacts  from 
each  citizen  her  just  tributes  of  loyalty  and  reverence ; 
and,  with  the  blended  voice  of  authority  and  love,  ex- 
claims, '  I  live  in  you,  and  you  in  me ;  our  union,  is 
a  vital  one ;  you  are  the  People,  I  am  the  State ;  the 
terms  are,  indeed,  convertible;  yet,  as  the  expression 
of  legitimacy,  and  as  entitled  by  its  divine  origin,  the 
State  is  supreme.' 

From  the  peculiar  structure  of  American  society 
spring  the  peculiar  relations  of  its  citizens ;  and  par- 
ticularly should  this  be  remembered  while  considering 
the  relations  the  lawyer  sustains.  Our  views  of  his 
duties  and  obligations  are  largely  of  foreign  growth. 
With  the  Roman,  French,  and  English  laws  have 
more  or  less  prevailed  the  Roman,  French,  and  Eng- 
lish strictures  on  the  duties  and  functions  of  the  legal 
profession.  Especially,  with  the  common  law,  have 
we  inherited  the  latter  theory.  True,  many  modifica- 
tions have  been  made.  But  when  we  consider  the 
difference  between  a  limited  monarchy  and  an  un- 
mixed democracy,  —  between  a  community  composed 
of  nobility,  gentry,  and  laborers,  and  one  in  which  all 
are  but  common  men,  —  between  one  theory,  the  assim- 
ilation of  the  heterogeneous  principles  and  prejudices 
of  ages,  and  another,  the  outgrowth  of  a  solitary,  mod- 
ern idea,  —  in  short,  between  England  and  the  United 
States,  —  we  are  surprised  that  we  retain  so  much  of 
the  phraseology,  the  organism,  and  the  life  which 


characterize  the  profession  in  the  imperial  realm.  This 
adhesion,  which  often  is  scarce  perceptible,  is  owing 
to  the  conservative  tendency  of  the  law  itself.  With 
the  practice  of  her  advocates,  and  the  decisions  of  her 
bench,  we  imbibe  something  of  the  spirit  of  English 
citizenship. 

I  forbear  to  dwell  long  on  the  strictly  Professional 
relations  of  the  lawyer;  for,  although  it  is  as  a  mem- 
ber of  some  profession  that  the  individual  is  of  impor- 
tance to  the  State,  yet  to  inform  us  what  are  such 
duties  is  the  peculiar  province  of  this  Institution. 
Through  his  entire  life  the  lawyer  is  fashioning  his 
professional  character.  As  it  is  pre-eminently  the 
outgrowth  of  natural  traits,  in  no  other  profession  will 
you  find  so  many  types  of  character,  —  such  various 
grades  of  individual  development.  As  no  two  distin- 
guished lawyers  have  trod  precisely  the  same  path,  so 
no  two  will  recommend  the  same  to  others.  Upon 
this  ocean  each  pilot  adopts  his  own  course ;  and  it  is 
straight  or  crooked  according  to  his  skill  in  taking  the 
bearings,  and  the  haven  he  has  in  view. 

But  how  important  in  preparing  for  the  bar  is  the 
professional  school !  Here  we  deal  with  certainties 
before  attempting  uncertainties.  At  our  command 
is  a  library  which,  if  discouraging  by  reason  of  its 
size,  invites  us  by  its  unequalled  selection  and  ad- 
mirable arrangement.  Able  and  experienced  lecturers 
conduct  the  student  beyond  the  threshold  of  each 
department  of  law,  and  instruct  him  how  he  can  reach 
the  end  of  the  journey  they  so  kindly  point  out. 
Conversation,  debates,  courts,  and  clubs  create  an  at- 
mosphere of  which  at  least  one  half  is  pure  law  ;  while 
the  trials  conducted  by  the  ablest  advocates  in  a  neigh- 


10 

boring  city  furnish  ample  lessons  in  the  arts  of  prac- 
tice, pleading,  and  the  management  of  cases. 

The  necessity  of  its  scientific  study  is  increased  by 
the  alterations  constantly  going  on  in  the  law.  As 
facts  change,  the  rules  of  law  must  also  change.  While 
our  improved  system  of  railroad  and  telegraphic  com- 
munication has  invoked  more  rapidity  and  certainty  in 
commercial  transactions,  it  has  completely  revolution- 
ized the  law  of  bailments,  and  called  into  existence  a 
new  class  of  principles.  Many  reported  cases  (which 
are  the  evidences  of  the  law)  are  no  longer  cited  as 
authority. 

More  of  accurate,  general  information  is  now  de- 
manded of  the  bar  than  ever  before.  If  immigration 
has  stimulated  industry  ;  if  science  has  augmented  the 
variety  and  complexity  of  mechanical  implements ;  if 
civilization  has  added  states,  peopled  territories,  and 
nurtured  cities,  with  their  manifold  individual  and  cor- 
porate interests,  —  personal  rights  and  duties  have  be- 
come more  strictly  defined,  and  important  questions  for 
litigation  have  arisen.  And  if  to  a  theoretical  knowl- 
edge of  the  titles  of  law  and  rules  of  procedure  were 
added  a  familiar  acquaintance  with  the  leading  depart- 
ments of  industry,  and  the  minor  usages  of  mercantile 
life,  doubtless  one  year  devoted  to  the  acquisition  of 
such  information  would  materially  lessen  the  perplexity 
and  labor  of  many  years  of  subsequent  practice. 

How  false,  then,  and  narrow,  the  theory  which 
recommends  to  the  student  a  specialty  merely  !  The 
interdependence  of  its  parts,  and  their  self-adjusting 
tendency,  require  a  general  knowledge  of  the  whole 
science,  before  an  accurate  acquaintance  with  a  single 
branch  can  be  obtained.  How  futile  the  attempt  to 
master  the  doctrines  of  "  Real  Estate  "  without 


11 


applying  them  to  "  Partnership "  or  the  "  Domestic 
Relations"!  A  division  of  labor  may  justify  the  expe- 
rienced practitioner  in  devoting  his  talents  to  his 
favorite  branch;  but  either  he  or  his  associate  must 
ever  be  in  readiness  to  discharge  all  other  duties  of 
the  profession.  When  we  observed  on  the  calendar, 
opposite  one  of  the  oldest  legal  firms  in  the  great  me- 
tropolis, a  hundred  and  fifty  suits,  a  hundred  and 
upwards  of  which  were  entitled  "  Summons  for  Money 
demand  on  Contract,"  we  thought  of  the  artisan 
who  makes  but  the  eighteenth  part  of  a  pin.  We 
despised  not  the  day  of  small  things,  but  queried 
whether  both  the  intellects  and  purses  of  those  learned 
gentlemen  would  not  have  been  enlarged,  had  they  ex- 
tended their  labors  into  more  liberal  departments  of 
practice,  and  gracefully  passed  some  of  their  "  Unpaid 
Bills  "  for  collection,  to  the  younger  members  of  the 
fraternity. 

This  leads  me  to  condemn  a  mercenary  spirit  which, 
I  fear,  is  increasing  in  our  profession.  In  "  a  free 
country,  with  free  everything,"  every  one  is  at  liberty 
to  make  the  most  money  he  can,  in  a  lawful  way.  He 
may  turn  Barnum  or  Blondin ;  play  chess  or  billiards  ; 
become  a  pedestrian,  pedagogue,  pugilist,  or  politician, 
—  and  all  for  gain.  Only  let  him  define  his  plans  and 
publish  his  terms.  If  he  enter  the  bar,  and  work  from 
six  in  the  morning  till  six  at  night,  and  from  seven  at 
night  till  one  in  the  morning,  admit  that  he  is  a  day 
laborer,  and  a  night  one,  too.  Then  will  the  public 
appreciate  his  services,  and  call  him  —  what  he  deserves. 
But  there  is  another  class  of  men,  the  absence  of  whose 
conscience  is  conditioned  on  the  presence  of  their  .fee, 
yet  who  claim  to  be  called  the  "  advocates  of  justice;  " 
2 


12 

lawyers,  who  boast  that  they  cleared  Mrs.  Cunning- 
ham, Cancemi,  and  Sickles,  yet  parade  themselves  as 
"  sworn  officers  of  Court  "  !  Their  obligations  as  citi- 
zens, professional  dignity,  personal  character,  the  re- 
finements of  society  and  of  home,  —  of  what  value  are 
they  to  those  whose  life,  whose  passion,  whose  God,  is 
GOLD,  and  the  political  emolument  and  sensual  pleas- 
ures which  it  secures !  Avarice,  more  than  all  other 
causes  combined,  defeats  justice,  impairs  the  usefulness 
of  the  bar,  and  sinks  too  many  of  its  followers  almost 
to  the  level  of  Satan  himself.  "  An  eminent  lawyer," 
says  Webster,  "  cannot  be  a  dishonest  man.  Tell  me 
a  man  is  dishonest,  and  I  will  answer  he  is  no  lawyer. 
He  cannot  be,  because  he  is  careless  and  reckless  of 
justice.  The  law  is  not  in  his  heart,  —  is  not  the  stand- 
ard and  rule  of  his  conduct." 

But  our  ranks  are  invaded  by  another  and  totally 
opposite  evil.  From  a  pure  ambition,  from  a  love  of 
knowledge,  or  perhaps  because  their  active  minds 
looked  for  rest  only  in  the  grave,  some  of  the  ablest  and 
noblest  of  the  bar  have,  through  unceasing  toil,  pre- 
maturely loosed  the  silver  cord  of  life.  And  while  we 
respect  their  genius,  and  are  grateful  for  their  research, 
their  eloquence,  and  all  they  have  taught  us,  let  a  con- 
sideration of  their  untimely  death  and  buried  effort 
warn  their  professional  brethren  against  extravagance 
and  improvidence  in  their  private  fortunes,  as  well  as 
against  unnatural,  suicidal  toil.  "  There  is,"  says 
Bacon,  "  a  certain  prudence  of  giving  counsel  to  oth- 
ers, and  another  to  one's  own  affairs;  sometimes  found 
united,  but  oftenest  separate."  "  After  twenty-five 
years'  observation,"  says  Webster,  "  I  can  give  it  as 
the  condensed  history  of  most,  if  not  all,  good  lawyers, 


13 


that  they  lived  well  and  died  poor."  Certainly  the 
numerous  cases  of  broken  constitutions  and  desolate 
homes  should  admonish  the  profession  of  the  folly 
of  excessive  application,  and  the  necessity  of  making 
suitable  provision  for  their  families. 

While  the  variety  in  the  lawyer's  business,  when 
properly  regulated,  increases  intellectual  vigor  and  pro- 
longs life,  a  too  jealous  guard  cannot  be  kept  over  his 
inherited  privileges.  In  many  of  the  States,  editors 
and  lawyers  are  the  hardest  workers  and  the  worst 
paid.  It  is  comparatively  a  modern  and  limited  cus- 
tom for  attorneys  to  avail  themselves  of  the  interim  of 
the  courts,  and,  following  the  general  fashion,  to  in- 
dulge in  a  summer  respite.  If  the  increased  demand  for 
brain  entitles  them  to  larger  fees,  it  should  foster  more 
of  a  disposition  to  relieve  one  another  in  professional 
toil.  Merchants  have  their  trade-sales,  farmers  their 
fairs,  brokers  their  boards,  and  physicians  their  con- 
ventions to  promote  their  respective  interests:  why, 
then,  should  the  intercourse  between  lawyers  be  chiefly 
in  the  antagonism  of  trials  —  their  sympathies  commin- 
gle only  through  the  media  of  calendars  and  reports  I 
True,  his  professional  pride  springs  from  his  independ- 
ence and  individuality;  but  amid  the  asperities  of  the 
bar  may  our  fortune  be  to  meet  that  courtesy  and  gen- 
erous sympathy  which  are  equally  characteristic. 
Such  elevated  intercourse  will  lighten  our  most  ardu- 
ous labors,  and  lend  to  them  a  charm  which  all  the 
aids  of  material  wealth  will  strive  in  vain  to  secure. 

The  Social  and  Civil  relations  of  the  lawyer  can, 
perhaps,  be  best  approached  by  first  contemplating  the 
nature  of  Law  itself.  In  the  language  of  Hooker, 


14 

"  Her  seat  is  the  bosom  of  God,  her  voice  the  harmony 
/  of  the  world ;  all  things  in  heaven  and  earth  do  her 
homage,  the  very  least  as  feeling  her  care,  the  greatest 
as  not  exempt  from  her  power."  As  Humboldt  declared 
that  the  grand  result  of  his  life-long  labor  was  "  the 
discovery  of  Unity  in  the  diversity  of  phenomena,"  so 
the  law,  as  the  rule  of  all  action  and  being,  reveals  in 
Revelation,  in  Providence,  and  human  consciousness, 
the  oneness  of  Truth.  It  pervades  alike  the  works 
of  nature  and  of  man,  and  human  plans  must  ever 
yield  when  found  in  conflict.  Admit  that  the  divine 
command,  "  Thou  shalt  not  steal,"  is  likewise  an  in- 
nate principle  of  the  breast,  and  you  have  a  simple 
illustration  how  the  law  reaches  from  the  throne  of 
God  to  the  firesides  of  men  ;  how  the  moral  gov- 
ernment of  the  universe  —  so  far  as  comprehended  — 
harmonizes  with  reason,  blends  with  our  finer  sensibil- 
ities, and  beats  with  the  pulsations  of  our  gentlest 
loves.  This  ubiquitous  law  is  but  in  part  interpreted. 
Separated  from  things  known  by  a  boundary-line 
which,  indeed,  recedes  as  knowledge  increases  and  the 
sciences  advance,  there  lies  a  realm  of  probabilities,  of 
mysteries,  —  presenting  a  wide  field  for  the  exercise  of 
reason,  —  a  broad  ocean,  over  which  the  only  star  seen 
is  Faith.  Human  codes,  so  far  as  they  are  just,  are 
but  parts  of  this  supreme  and  universal  Law.  Relig- 
ion and  humanity,  which  Guizot  terms  the  sources  of 
civilization,  can  be  separated  only  by  barriers  false  and 
artificial.  Truth  enters  alike  the  regions  of  theology 
and  the  broad  domains  of  natural  science ;  takes  her 
seat  in  the  halls  of  justice,  and  walks  the  battle-fields 
of  earth  wherever  error  is  to  be  overthrown.  The 
wisest  and  most  feasible  system  of  politics  and  ethics 


15 

is  found  in  the  teachings  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Divine 
law  is  as  essential  to  the  purity  and  perfection  of  hu- 
man law  as  water  to  the  Falls  of  Niagara.  It  is  its  very 
life.  Our  text-books,  statutes,  and  reports  but  illus- 
trate its  application  to  the  affairs  of  men.  Hence  the 
rule  that  the  judge  must  always  sacrifice  precedent  to 
principle,  but  never  principle  to  precedent.  As  it 
reconciles  duty  with  interest,  by  observing  its  com- 
mands man  may  win  money,  fame,  and  power  without 
once  losing  stroke  in  those  combined  and  noble  efforts 
which  are  advancing  and  exalting  our  race. 

Thus  is  the  law  the  author  and  preserver  of  civil 
liberty,  and  it  expresses  that  refined  idea  of  civilization 
which  the  savage  can  never  understand.  Cicero,  de- 
fining it  according  to  its  derivation,  said  it  chose  what 
was  best  for  the  state ;  and  the  Greeks  declared  that  it 
distributed  to  every  man  his  due.  While  dispelling 
the  error  that  license  is  liberty,  it  shows  how  truth 
alone  can  make  man  free.  It  demonstrates  his  ca- 
pacity for  self-government  by  teaching  that  knowl- 
edge and  virtue  rescue  him  from  his  own  passions 
and  the  tyranny  of  others,  —  that  the  larger  his 
self-control  the  more  collected  is  his  strength.  The 
higher  the  civilization  of  a  nation  the  more  numerous 
are  its  written  and  unwritten  rules,  which  point  out 
the  most  delicate  relations  between  mine  and  thine, 
put  all  things  in  their  right  places,  and  thus  make 
the  machinery  of  social  life  move  on  with  perfect 
ease.  Her  noble  system  of  jurisprudence  has  be- 
queathed to  Rome  a  loftier  fame  than  the  splendor  of 
her  architecture,  the  martial  glory  which  rose,  like 
incense,  from  the  cities  she  dispeopled  and  the  prov- 
inces she  subdued,  or  even  her  brilliant  lessons  of  ora- 
2* 


16 


torical  power  commemorative  of  festal  days ;  and  it 
was  their  profound  respect  for  law  which  enabled  the 
earlier  Christians  to  face  the  frown  of  Tiberius,  the 
sword  of  Nero,  and  the  taunts  of  the  apostate  Julian, 
without  once  forgetting  their  loyalty  to  the  Roman 
state. 

From  the  study  and  application  of  the  principles  of 
law  something  of  its  spirit  should  be  reflected  upon  the 
soul.  Burke  testified  that  "  it  does  more  to  quicken 
and  invigorate  the  human  understanding  than  all  other 
kinds  of  learning  put  together."  If  it  cannot  supply 
what  nature  has  refused,  —  give  its  disciple  superior 
genius  and  essentially  change  his  innate  traits,  —  yet 
to  the  whole  character  it  imparts  a  distinctive  tone. 
And,  after  all,  it  is  character,  rather  than  intellect, 
which  determines  a  man's  influence  in  the  world. 
Character  speaks  with  ten  thousand  voices,  intellect 
with  but  one.  It  does  not,  like  the  genius  of  the 
artist,  paint  its  own  immortality,  nor  transmit  an 
Apollo  Belvidere  to  bespeak  to  future  ages  its  well- 
won  praise ;  but  it  possesses  an  electric  energy,  an 
immediate  utility,  an  unostentatious  power,  and  exerts 
a  sway  as  silent  as  the  descending  dews,  and  as  benig- 
nant as  the  vapors  which  rise  and  form  those  welcome 
summer  clouds  which  break  with  blessings  upon  the 
grateful  fields.  Though  it  has  its  many  attributes,  yet 
it  is  the  one  resultant,  determined  by  the  multifa- 
rious thoughts,  acts,  forces,  and  circumstances  of  the 
individual.  It  is  a  delusion  to  speak  of  a  man's  re- 
ligious as  distinct  from  his  political  or  professional 
character.  His  reputation  may  be  high  for  the  one 
and  low  for  the  other ;  he  may  be  a  good  churchman 
and  a  bad  lawyer ;  but  his  character  is  the  indissoluble 


17 

union  of  body,  mind,  and  soul.  Think  of  Napoleon. 
You  contemplate  him  not  merely  at  Austerlitz,  with  the 
fire  of  military  ambition  in  his  eye,  nor  as  writing  let- 
ters to  Josephine ;  imagination  intuitively  bodies  forth 
NAPOLEON,  —  his  totality,  —  and,  at  its  leisure,  pro- 
ceeds to  an  analysis.  —English  generals  smiled  at  the 
tactics  of  Washington  and  the  discipline  of  his  raw 
militia ;  but  they  quailed  before  them  both ;  they  feared 
such  characters.  You  can  no  more  elevate  or  depress 
men  to  precisely  the  same  level  than  trample  to  the 
same  level  the  waves  of  the  sea.  That  which  is  of  any 
weight  acquires  strength  as  it  goes.  There  are  men 
who  seem  to  invest  everything  they  touch  with  intense 
reality,  —  whose  words,  as  in  the  early  simplicity  of 
speech,  represent  actual  things.  It  has  been  remarked 
of  Webster,  that  in  all  his  great  speeches  the  state- 
ments, arguments,  and  images  had  a  positive  being  of 
their  own,  —  "  stood  out  as  plainly  to  the  sight,  as  a 
ledge  of  rocks,  or  a  chain  of  hills."  The  ascendency 
of  character  over  genius  finds  an  illustration  in  that 
familiar  court  scene  where,  after  a  rhetorician  had 
for  a  half-hour  skilfully  enlarged  upon  the  "  heaven- 
wide  "  difference  between  two  car- wheels,  which,  to  the 
ordinary  observer  were  exactly  alike,  his  opponent, 
turning  to  the  jury,  bluntly  said,  "  But,  gentlemen, 
there  they  are  —  look  at  them !  "  and  his  case  was 
won. 

Pecuniarily,- the  value  of  character  is  not  here  so 
fully  seen  as  it  is  in  England,  where,  we  are  told,  a  bar- 
rister has  made  from  twenty  to  thirty  thousand  pounds 
per  annum,  in  representing  the  claims  of  Railroad  Com- 
panies before  committees  of  the  House  of  Commons. 
It  was  his  accomplishments,  his  tact,  talents,  social  po- 


18 


sition,  —  in  one  word,  his  character,  —  which  enabled 
him  successfully  to  present  their  claims.  And  while 
it  is  not  with  mercenary  ends  in  view  that  a  good  char- 
acter is  to  be  acquired  or  employed,  yet,  even  in  our 
impatient  country,  an  interested  public  does  not  suffer 
it  wholly  to  lose  its  just  reward.  Men  acknowledge 
its  solvency,  and  repose  in  it  their  most  precious 
trusts. 

It  is  with  this  instrument  that  the  lawyer,  pre-emi- 
nently, must  accomplish  the  work  of  life.  A  conscious 
intimacy  with  truth  gives  to  his  mind  inward  peace. 
Pride,  the  daughter  of  ignorance,  retires  before  humil- 
ity, the  child  of  wisdom.  Knowing  the  temptations 
which  beset  the  unwary,  he  is  indulgent  to  human 
frailty  and  charitable  to  misfortune.  His,  is  a  perma- 
nency of  character  which  is  the  result  of  deep  insight, 
and  a  philosophic  contentedness  with  things  around 
him.  And  if  upon  turbulent  public  affairs  the  law 
acts  with  the  steady  and  overpowering  effulgence  of 
the  noonday  sun,  it  imparts  the  twilight  tints  of  kindly 
sentiment  and  softened  affection  to  the  quiet  scenes  at 
home.  His  social  refinement  and  intellectual  culture 
pervade,  in  no  small  degree,  the  family  circle.  Time 
and  fashion  work  their  changes,  it  is  true ;  besides, 

"  Aliud  alii  natura  iter  ostendit : " 

but  the  country  Squire  is  the  soul  of  hospitality. 
"  Their  standing  in  society  compels  them  to  live  some- 
what expensively,  and,  I  may  add,  their  inclinations, 
too.  Lawyers  always  feel  themselves  bound  to  be  hos- 
pitable. Friends  come  to  town  and  they  must  be 
entertained."  It  was  this  broad  symmetry  of  social, 
moral,  and  intellectual  development  that  led  a  ven- 


19 

erable  chaplain  of  the  National  House  of  Represent- 
atives, to  alter  the  line  of  Pope,  and  pronounce 

"An  honest  lawyer  the  noblest  work  of  God." 

A  profession  composed  of  "  so  many  different  na- 
tures, marvellously  mix't,"  cannot  but  exercise  a  vast 
influence  throughout  society.  Think  of  the  twenty 
thousand  judges  and  lawyers  in  these  United  States, 
and  what  result  would  be  too  great  to  expect,  if  their 
latent  energy  —  their  reserved  force  —  was  aroused 
into  action,  as  though  their  hour  had  come,  and,  pos- 
sessing themselves  of  that  broad  culture  now  attained 
by  so  few,  should  seek,  through  the  perfection  of  per- 
sonal character,  to  ameliorate  society  and  elevate  the 
race  !  Confidence  would  not  so  often  be  betrayed,  nor 
opinions  tinged  with  party  or  personal  interests.  Suits 
would  not  begin  so  soon,  nor  terminate  so  late.  The 
existence  of  crime  would  appear  no  more  essential 
to  the  support  of  the  lawyer  than  the  prevalence  of 
a  plague  to  the  maintenance  of  the  physician.  Good 
would  be  done  by  casual  intercourse.  If  words  let 
drop  have  ruined  clients,  and  sundered  forever  the 
friendships  of  families,  timely  advice  would  restrain 
rash  speculation,  protect  much  property,  and  save 
many  valuable  lives. 

Besides,  the  public  administration  of  justice  is  the 
chief  means  of  instructing  the  masses  in  their  civil 
rights  and  duties.  Other  agencies  combine  to  impart 
general  information,  and  inspire  them  with  correct 
moral  principles  of  action ;  but  the  obligations  of  the 
citizen  are  best  taught  by  the  proceedings  of  courts 
and  the  conduct  of  public  men.  Let  the  bar  be  cor- 
rupt, and  the  bench  which  it  supplies  will  also  be  cor- 


20 


rupt ;  and  witnesses,  jurors,  and  spectators  will  carry 
back  the  contagion  to  the  people.  On  the  contrary,  had 
the  bar  in  the  times  of  Empson,  Dudley,  and  Jeffries, 
promptly  and  sternly  demanded  their  removal,  Eng- 
lish history  and  English  law  need  not  blush  so  deeply 
at  the  mention  of  their  names.  Happily  the  courts 
and  literature  of  law  have  done  more  to  prop  up  civil 
government  than  all  other  human  agencies  combined. 
Not  only  have  able  treatises  discussed  the  endless 
affinities  of  business  interests,  but  the  forensic  efforts 
of  Curran,  Erskine,  Webster,  and  others,  have  poured 
floods  of  light  upon  the  political  relations  of  men. 
Dwarfed  by  no  meanness,  ennobled  by  disinterested 
zeal,  the  law  appeals  to  the  just,  the  high-minded,  the 
heroic ;  and  did  the  ardent  student  inwardly  believe 
that  truth  connected  his  soul  with  divinity  itself,  and 

" feel  his  Immortality  o'ersweep 


All  pains,  all  tears,  all  time,  all  fears,  and  peal 

Like  the  eternal  thunders  of  the  deep 

Into  his  ears  this  truth,  — '  Thou  liv'st  forever ; ' " 

then,  when  wielding  his  glittering  sword  to  win  the 
smile  of  justice,  or  protect  the  fair  virtue  of  the  state, 
would  he  exhibit  much  of  that  lofty  passion  and  chiv- 
alric  spirit  which,  even  in  a  selfish  cause,  has  made  the 
Spanish  conqueror  of  Mexico  the  prince  of  the  heroes 
of  romance. 

It  is  a  natural  and  gradual  step  from  the  attorney  to 
the  advocate,  and  from  the  advocate  to  PUBLIC  LIFE.  By 
public  life  I  do  not  necessarily  mean  political  life ;  for 
the  private  citizen  has  his  public  services  to  perform. 
But  wisdom  and  caution  must  accompany  each  step ; 
for,  if  aspiring  to  be  a  statesman,  the  lawyer  should 


21 

aim  to  be  a  scientific  one.  Armed  with  judgment  and 
insight,  versed  in  the  principles  of  politics  and  ethics, 
with  facts  and  statistics  ever  accessible,  who  better 
than  he  is  qualified  to  deliberate  for  the  public  wel- 
fare I  A  glance  at  the  leading  elements  in  our  Amer- 
ican civilization  will  suffice  to  show  what  are  the 
institutions  he  will  naturally  regard. 

First  is  the  cause  of  education,  embracing  the  benev- 
olent and  charitable  institutions  of  Reform.  Public 
education  must  have  two  ends  in  view,  —  one  having 
respect  to  the  pupil,  the  other  to  the  state ;  —  for,  if  the 
youth,  educated  at  public  expense,  are  selfishly  ab- 
sorbed in  their  own  pursuits,  the  state  becomes  second- 
ary, and  her  favored  offspring,  of  all  others,  fractious 
and  ungrateful.  But  in  behalf  of  the  children  of 
poverty  and  shame,  who  are  taught  the  arts  of  in- 
dustry ;  in  sustaining  the  common-school,  —  that  ele- 
vator, not  leveller  of  the  masses,  —  and  in  aiding  nor- 
mal schools  in  training  teachers  for  their  noble  work, 
too  large  expenditures  can  scarce  be  made  by  individ- 
uals or  the  State  treasury.  And  wiser  than  the  dia- 
logues of  sophists  and  cynics,  safer  than  the  French 
University,  —  teaching  an  imperialism,  —  more  liberal 
than  Cambridge  and  Oxford,  —  employing  their  royal 
patronage  in  making  merely  Englishmen,  —  is  our 
system  of  American  colleges,  with  their  broad  culture 
and  republican  spirit,  the  wisdom  of  whose  policy 
cannot  be  too  warmly  admired,  any  more  than  can 
their  utility  and  success  ever  be  adequately  measured. 

All  must  be  struck  at  the  new  interest  the  clergy 
are  taking  in  public  measures,  and  their  more  general 
assimilation  with  the  people.  No  religious  sect,  I 
trust,  will  ever  seek  political  popularity.  To  preserve 


22 


its  purity  and  power,  the  Church  must  confine  itself 
to  functions  wholly  spiritual.  History  shows  that 
in  their  political  acts  church  dignitaries  have  been,  of 
all  men,  most  ambitious,  false,  erratic,  and  violent. 
Religious  enthusiasm,  once  admitted  into  government, 
binds  tighter  the  fetters  of  despotism,  or  dissolves  the 
looser  bands  of  a  democracy.  Hence  must  be  pre- 
served our  tolerance  of  all  religious  sects,  would  we 
be  free  alike  from  the  dogmatism  of  an  established 
church,  and  the  dangerous  supremacy  of  foreign  eccle- 
siastical power.  Though  religion  is  a  reasonable  ser- 
vice^ yet  mysteries  there  will  ever  be  to  exercise  the 
highest  faith ;  and  nothing  is  more  evident  than  that, 
as  men  differ  in  nature,  education,  and  conviction,  so 
differences  will  exist  in  creeds  and  forms  of  worship. 
But  the  furnaces  of  time  will  purge  the  gold  of  all  its 
dross,  and  unite  the  now  militant  and  dismembered 
church  in  acknowledging  but  one  Lord  and  faith. 

Our  argument  has  already  answered  an  English  the- 
ory that,  as  the  lawyer's  province  is  to  apply  the  law, 
he  is  thereby  disqualified  to  be  a  legislator.  Being  of 
the  people,  —  therefore  a  part  of  the  law-making 
power,  —  and  made  practically  aware  of  the  imperfec- 
tions of  our  system,  he  is  pre-eminently  qualified  to 
suggest  their  remedy.  Conversant  with  commercial 
interests,  and  familiar  with  proceedings  in  Admiralty, 
who  better  than  the  city  lawyer  could  improve  our 
international  law,  or  the  system  of  revenue  and  taxes  1 
Acquainted  with  the  applications  of  mechanical  power, 
aware  of  the  part  manufactures  play  in  eliciting  do- 
mestic industry  and  skill,  who  could  unfold  a  clearer 
argument  on  the  nature  of  patents,  or  tariff  regulations 
than  the  learned  advocate?  Observant  of  the  latent 


23 

resources  and  felt  wants  of  an  agricultural  district, 
who  could  better  legislate  on  internal  improvements, 
and  represent  the  people,  than  the  village  squire  1 
Other  things  being  equal,  it  is  he  who  has  the  largest 
objects  of  thought,  and  whose  calling  is  allied  with 
the  greatest  variety  of  important  interests,  who  is  best 
able  to  consult  for  the  general  good ;  and  as  the  rela- 
tions of  men  grow  more  numerous,  intricate,  and  com- 
plex, and  the  excellences  and  defects,  the  claims  and 
offsets  of  conflicting  interests,  are  to  be  calmly  consid- 
ered, because  involving  the  public  weal  or  woe,  the 
advice  of  the  ablest  and  most  experienced  counsellor  is 
sought  and  adopted,  and  he,  the  people  say,  is  the 
State's  man. 

It  is  not  with  a  view  to  tempt  him  from  professional 
duty,  and  involve  the  lawyer  in  the  eddies  of  public 
life,  that  these  inviting  fields  have  been  surveyed  ;  but 
to  inculcate  the  necessity  of  a  profound  acquaintance 
with  the  principles  of  our  government,  and  the  lead- 
ing interests  wrhich  it  is  called  to  protect.  True,  its 
machinery  is  wisely  restrained  in  its  operations.  The 
federal  head  superintends  only  its  more  general  move- 
ments, and  leaves  to  each  State  its  own  executive,  leg- 
islative, and  judicial  powers.  The  State,  in  turn, 
intrusts  much  to  the  county,  the  county  to  the  town- 
ship, and  the  township  to  the  individual;  and  Solon 
well  said  that,  as  the  sea  would  be  calm  if  the  winds 
did  not  blow,  so  would  the  people  if  orators  and  coun- 
sellors did  not  trouble  them.  But  the  conduct  of  those 
in  office  needs  constant  scrutiny ;  and  if  lawyers,  as  a 
class,  are  best  cognizant  of  corruption,  they  are  often 
the  last  to  begin  the  cure.  To  preserve  a  representa- 
tive government  in  fact,  and  not  merely  in  name,  de- 
3 


24 

mands  the  vigilance  of  each  citizen ;  and  it  is  as  clearly 
his  duty  to  see  that  the  best  men  are  always  nomi- 
nated for  public  office,  and  then  to  vote  for  them,  as  to 
support  his  family  or  attend  church.  What  language 
can  express  sufficient  abhorrence  of  the  conduct  of 
those  who  crave  the  immunities,  but  shrink  from  the 
responsibilities,  of  American  citizenship ;  value  their 
country  only  as  the  means  of  selfish  aggrandizement, 
and  heedlessly  gamble  with  the  suffrages  of  partisans 
and  foes ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  thousands  of  the 
less  hopeful  are  looking  on  with  fear  lest,  through  the 
unskilful  or  reckless  management  of  those  in  power, 
the  stately  car  of  justice  should  plunge  from  its  track, 
and  sink  into  the  abyss  of  political  ruin  !  : 

But  the  cunning  of  the  unscrupulous  cannot  be  \ 
checked,  till  the  apathy  of  the  better  class  of  citizens   ^ 
is  first  disturbed.     Would,  then.,  that  the  mutterings 
of  the  counting-room  and  the  complaints  of  the  parlor 
at   the   "  sad  degeneracy "    of  our   politics   were*  ex- 
changed for  the  suggestions   of  practical  experience 
and  intelligent  discussion ;    that  our  merchants  and 
lawyers  would  emerge  from  a  selfish,  indolent,  or  cow- 
ardly retirement,   and,  whether  in  or  out  of  public 
place, 

"  Dare  do  all  that  may  become  a  man." 

Our  people  must  awaken  to  a  just  sense  of  their  polit- 
ical responsibilities,  would  they  keep  pace  with  the 
magnificent  march  of  sister  nations.  Ancient  dynas- 
ties are  giving  way  to  more  democratic  forms,  and  a 
third  Napoleon  startles  all  Europe  with  the  fresh, 
stratagems  and  weapons  he  employs  in  his  remarkable 
career.  Even  from  the  British  realm  are  heard  loud 
voices  for  a  change.  No  longer  content  that  castes 


25 

and  opinions  should  determine  the  principle  of  repre- 
sentation, to  the  prejudice  of  numbers  and  wealth  ;  wit- 
nessing what  impulse  democracy  infuses  into  the  Amer- 
ican mind,  and  how  national  pride  is  fostered  by  an 
equal  participation  in  political  rights;  amazed  that 
our  civilization  keeps  abreast  with  that  of  the  oldest 
and  most  powerful  nations,  and  fascinated  with  the 
unity  which  pervades  so  wide  a  territory,  —  not  a  few 
intelligent  Englishmen  are  contemplating  reforms  no 
less  serious  than  the  abandonment  of  the  hereditary 
principle  of  representation,  and  the  enlargement  of  the 
power  of  the  House  of  Commons,  with  the  ultimate 
view  of  placing  their  imperial  government  on  a  basis 
similar  to  our  own. 

But,  although  bribery  just  now  finds  its  secret  way 
into  every  chair  of  our  public  service,  and  the  enor- 
mous abuses  of  wealth,  patronage,  and  power  unmask 
the  selfishness  even  of  those  intrusted  with  the  in- 
terests of  the  state,  still,  if  genuine  Christianity  con- 
tinues to  be  the  fundamental  law  of  the  land,  we  can 
logically  look  for  a  gradual  improvement  in  public 
morals,  and  confidently  anticipate  the  ultimate  tri- 
umph of  private  virtue.  In  the  activity  displayed  in 
all  material  interests ;  in  the  unexampled  diffusion  of 
knowledge ;  in  the  unknown  efficiency  of  public  com- 
mon sense  ;  in  the  restlessness  of  the  adherents  to  frail 
religious  creeds  and  unsound  political  dogmas,  as  well 
as  in  the  firmness  of  the  believers  in  evangelical 
religion,  and  the  friends  of  the  constitution  ;  in  the 
freedom  of  speculation  which,  though  it  may  make  the 
members  of  one  family  to  differ  on  non-essential  points, 
unites  them  in  the  development  of  an  intelligent  in- 
dividuality ;  in  that  feature  of  American  society  which 


05  = 
O! 

CD; 


-U.CS8  LIBRARY      26 

suffers  neither  the  richest  nor  the  oldest  families  to 
wield  public  influence,  unless  coupled  with  the  public 
good  ;  in  the  quickened  vitality  of  conscience  in  busi-    oi 
ness  interests;    in  the  swiftness    and   universality   of   oj 
change,    teaching    the    total   instability  of    terrestrial 
things,    and   man's    sole   dependence  on  himself  and 
God ;  in  the  consequent  sympathy  between  man  and    ^ 
man  as  fellow-travellers  to  eternity,  —  are  seen  indi-    w 
cations  of  a  future  which  should  fill  all  hearts  with 
contentment  and  hope. 

While  pitying,  then,  the  delusions  of  those  social 
and  literary  dilettanti,  whose  heads  are  turned  by  a 
brief  acquaintance  with  foreign  society  and  courts, 
with  eyes  ever  open  to  improvement,  let  us 

"  Keep  all  our  native  good,  and  naturalize 
All  foreign  of  that  name  ;  but  scorn  their  ill." 

As  members  of  the  legal  profession,  let  us  aid  in 
perfecting  American  institutions  by  popularizing  the 
great  laws  of  truth.  Whether  latent  or  revealed,  truth 
is  to  the  moral  world  what,  according  to  the  igneous 
theory,  the  central  fires  are  to  the  physical ;  though 
mountains  sleep  above  them,  and  over  them  oceans 
unconsciously  roll,  they  burn  on,  mysteriously  work- 
ing out  good  by  their  own  internal  action  ;  but  at- 
tempt to  stifle  their  undying  energy,  and  they  upheave 
the  waters,  rend  the  continents,  submerge  whole 
islands,  and  change  all  earth's  history  and  life.  But 
employ  the  spirit  of  justice  and  truth  in  purifying  and 
moulding  Public  Opinion,  and  you  sway  the  very  soul 
of  your  country ;  then,  in  sympathy  with  one  of  the 
ablest  of  lawyers  and  truest  of  men,  can  you  say: 
The  Law :  it  has  honored  us,  because  we  honored  it. 


